Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include reporting from The New York Times on the charges being brought against Sam Bankman-Fried.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and ex-CEO of now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX and major Democratic Party donor, has been arrested in the Bahamas following the U.S.’ filing of criminal charges, according to a statement by the office of the attorney general of the Bahamas.
Bahamian authorities had not yet received a formal request to extradite Bankman-Fried, but promised to “promptly” fulfill any requests made by U.S. authorities, in accordance with its own laws and treaties with the U.S., according to the statement. The exact nature of the charges against Bankman-Fried was not made clear at time of writing, both Bankman-Fried and FTX have been under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice for several months, amid allegations that FTX loaned billions of dollars of clients’ assets to its sister firm, the trading house Alameda Research. (RELATED: ‘Complete Failure’: CEO Who Oversaw Enron’s Collapse Says FTX’s Is Even Worse)
The U.S. attorney’s office of the Southern District of New York confirmed that Bankman-Fried had been arrested at its request, and is expected to unseal its indictment Tuesday morning. He is facing charges including, but not necessarily limited to, wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering, according to The New York Times, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter.
Bankman-Fried was set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday, according to CNBC.
On 12 December 2022, the Office of the Attorney General of The Bahamas is announcing the arrest by The Royal Bahamas Police Force of Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”), former CEO of FTX. pic.twitter.com/CRNeLPAbVp
— Latrae L. Rahming (DOC)🇧🇸 (@latraelrahming) December 12, 2022
Bankman-Fried, who was the second largest individual donor to the Democratic Party in 2022 behind George Soros, saw his more than $16 billion fortune collapse after a liquidity crisis at FTX rapidly forced the company into bankruptcy on Nov. 11, 2022.
“The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law,” Prime Minister Philip Davis said in a statement. “While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against Bankman-Fried individually, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere.”
The Department of Justice and Office of the Attorney General of The Bahamas did not immediately respond to a Daily Caller News Foundation request for comment. Bankman-Fried could not be reached for comment.
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